Development of Sustainable Construction: Construction Methods - Assignment Example

by Student’s name Code+ course name Professor’s name University name City, State Date Part 1 Introduction Construction methods accompanied with materials to be used must be selected considering the design specification, legal requirements, time constraint, amount of money set aside for the project, the effect of the building method to the environment as well as the intended use of the structure to be constructed. Most of the construction methods aim at reducing the time for construction, consideration of the legal requirement, good look for the structures, reduced risks of collapse, lowering cost and use of readily available materials. Many construction methods tend to be more labor intensive since they involve different workers with differed knowledge working under factory conditions. An engineering innovation center would require more of the skilled labor, and this comes at a cost hence, the university should be in a position to spend if the quality is needed. Methods of managing wastes may include re-use of extra materials, proper disposal of chromate copper acetate and lead material and use of treated water and intensive use of wood as it is the only commercial building material which is renewable In much as factors of time, cost, materials and the final look of the building is concerned, there is important to consider the nature of the preplanning the construction job because it will be one to guide in determining crew sizes, daily construction sizes, tools required in construction, the composition of the team as well as production rhythms of the crew. This is because the plan treats the entire project as phases of construction and each activity is listed alongside its relevant crew. Construction methods Use of timber frames is a modern method of building construction which offers significantly high-quality products in many commercial constructions. The soft nature of wood makes it be able to be transformed into different shapes and designs. This ability of being made to different shapes and design make timber products to be of more beauty than those made from metals. In the 20th century, constructions were mostly based on the use of blocks, bricks and concrete plasters which depended on water and aggregates. Use of these materials increased working time due to their hard nature apart from being affected by rainy weather that could bring the entire building down and sometimes promoting plant growth in the sites which constantly increased carbon footprint. Use of technology has made it possible to predict the look of the structures to be built and the fact that most chunks of the building are created off the site, some of the external influences such as severe weather have been made less vulnerable helping to save time for construction. For my case, I will recommend the following construction methods: i. Thin joint construction method This construction method uses aerated blocks of concrete and a special type of mortar as its main materials. It allows the external walls of the building to be built quickly collectively. These concrete blocks are made of the site which makes this method seems to save time as a crew may be working on the blocks for the extra work on the (Pan, Wei, Alistair GF Gibb, and Andrew RJ Dainty, 2008). The collective nature of this construction process makes it less time consuming but does not reduce labor requirement. The use of aerated blocks of concrete and a special type of mortar which sets up very quickly allowing more blocks to be laid on top of the existing also makes the construction process very fast. I would choose this method because it comes with benefits such as cost effectiveness, improved speed of construction, reduced wastes and defects, compliance with building regulations, great assurance of delivery, it is less weather susceptible as well as improving airtightness cited that the building should be a little carbon emission building. The gentle nature of the concretes makes it a suitable method to be used in building tall buildings like this required. ii. Precast concrete method This an industrial way to build where the construction work is transferred from the building sites to the factories. The main materials in this method include cement, water and. The already made precast walls, floors, foundations, and frames from the factory are transported to the building sites and then just being fixed. Most common precast products include partitions and inner walls made from Acotec to solid walls, stairs, shafts, foundations having precast concrete piles. This method ensures high quality for products being transported to the building sites. The fact that already made precast are just fixed because they are already made makes has made it easy to control pollution in the construction sites (Libby, James R, 2012). And also, the fact that the precast has already been made makes it evident that this method is less time consuming. This method works in almost all environments including cold, most and dry weathers. At the construction site, the only remaining task is to fix these precast products hence no need of too much labor and material handling which is associated with accidents. iii. Precast concrete cladding Cladding panels are separate units which are always attached to the external walls for the purpose of decoration and loading bearing after his walls have been erected or just act as a façade. They are produced on the site and brought to the construction sites to be fixed. Precast can also be used as the only material, but it would be better if they are reinforced with steel or be used as composite structures only (Forbes, Lincoln H., and Syed M. Ahmed,2010). The importance of these claddings is their nature of being fire resistant, weather protection because they are resistant to erosion. This makes the buildings be able to last for longer times before they are degraded. A research site should be one that never degrades, and that is why this method is suitable for this project. The thermal performance of these claddings is also observable. They serve to reduce peak heating, and cooling conditions give the rooms a conducive condition to conduct researches without extra expenses of fitting of air conditioners Strategies of design for fire safety Strategies for keeping a building safe from fire threat include: Using building materials with limited combustibility and inflammability. Proving the building with automatic sprinkler protection. Providing physical barriers within the building to contain the fire. Fitting fire alarms and detection systems. However, for safety in the event of fire the following should be done for the sake of safety: Access to your building should be easy for both firefighter’s vehicles and run away. You should have a portable fire extinguisher in an area that is of less risk of fire attack like corridors. The above safety measures may be only necessary to short building, one-floor story or below where one might be able to find his way out quickly. In tall buildings like those of 40 meters and above, immediate evacuation might be challenging, and so the following measures should be put in place: Smoke control systems should be fitted in stairs and fire escape routes. Increased fire resistant components should be used in building structures in such buildings Although the materials and the protection appliances may be expensive to purchase, they are recommended because there is no such big loss than the loss of life at the expense of saving money. Use of wood is an environmental, healthy practice and also rather economical, but when you live in a timber house, you are exposed to fire risks than that person living in concrete, bricks or block house (Harris, Frank, 2014). Conclusion and recommendations for development of sustainable construction The best construction practice that is considered sustainable is that which delivers optimal result such that it can be quickly adopted. The building construction sector is a very sensitive area that has created employment for more than 7% of the entire population and also contributed 4.5 GDP in 2005 according to BERL, and the increase has been steady too. The key businesses involved in this sector includes procurement, partnering, benchmarking, lean construction, supply chain management, whole life costing, value management, health and safety, risk management and sustainable construction, therefore, all the expertise from this field should always be combined to come out with a sustainable construction both at national and international level. I would like to recommend that for efficient use of resources and time awareness for any individual who wants to venture in the construction industry, you must be aware of the current technology as well as the legal practice requirement necessary for this industry. Part 2 In 2014, there were several incidences of fire up to 1298000 fires according to National Fire Protection Association in the United States of America. This amount includes 78% of it being building fires, the rest being vehicle fires, wildfires as well as structures fires. And 89% of these building fires are from homes, residential fires. The primary causes of these domestic fires include: Cooking fires leading to residential fires Electricity malfunctions Heating fires Smethwick fire Smethwick fire in the UK, England is one of the fires that is worth mentioning. The fire broke out around midnight on 30th June on Dartmouth Road near West Bromwich Albion football ground at Smethwick. Report say that a Chinese lamp landed on plastic and paper recycling plant and ignited the materials that were stored there. The resulting fire was such big that it deployed more than 200 firefighters and 40 firefighting appliances 8 of which were borrowed from Staffordshire Fire and Rescue services apart from causing some other serious damages to the areas surrounding the area. This kind of fire could have been prevented. Most of those who suffered losses from the fire event proposed that such lamps be abolished which was very relevant. Analysis of fire-related accidents in built areas Every year, about 10000 firefighters lose their lives, and some get injured while on their duties according to United States Fire Administration, 2012. They cite the primary cause of these deaths is motor vehicles used by firefighter's crash; this contributes to between 21 to 31% of the incidents. The crashes are due to the high speeds that the cars move to reach the accident scenes and mostly happen in bends when they make turns. Other causes of the crashes may be those resulting from vehicles which are not adequately serviced. Other common fire related accidents may include accidental falling, fire burns as well as water burns in case of domestic fires. (Reniers, G. L. L., Amaryllis Audenaert, Noël Pauwels, Ben JM Ale, and Karel Soudan, 2008) Some of the most common fire safety engineering issues that may worsen a fire accident event include: An unreliable supply of water- this might result from water being supplied under low pressure and availability of only one channel which might at times fail. Inadequate acceptance testing of fire extinguishers and gas turbines- before buying fire extinguishing tools, you should always make sure that they are tested well and found functional so that they don't fail in the when they are now needed. Failure to consider the operation of an adjacent sprinkler system - sprinkler systems should be made in such a way that they can feed more than one fire protection system. In the event where the fire accident scene requires more than one control type, this becomes an issue. Low standard steam turbine generator protector- while others claim that they have fire protection measures, the conditions following these measures look more of promoting fire than control. It is recommended that are areas around a sprinkler system, and floors that oil could flow or get sprayed be protected by automatic sprinklers. This measure can prevent additional accidents from a fire incident. To conclude, I would say that most of these fire accidents are caused domestically. Therefore, I would urge citizens to be careful in their daily undertakings with fire and electric appliances as well as collaborate with fire agencies while building to ensure that fire control gadgets are properly fixed and functional. Part 3 Question 1 The nomenclature of halon and Freon systems is simply represented by an abcd number, where a represents the number of carbon atoms, b represents the number of fluorine atoms, c represents the number of chlorine atoms, and d represents the number of bromine atoms. The number of hydrogen atoms is not included; however, it is very easy to calculate it. An example to explain the nomenclature is as follows: CF2BrCF2Br = Dibromotetrafluoroethane = DTE = C(2)F4(4)Cl(0)Br2(2) = Halon 2402 Halons that are used that are used in different applications may have another number/name. For instance, halon 1301 is used in many industrial applications because it an effective low-temperature refrigerant; in such uses it is identified by a trade name like Forane 13B1 or Freon 13B1, or a standard refrigerant name: R13B1. The environmental impacts of halons can be grouped into two: ozone depletion and global warming. The long lifetimes of halons in the atmosphere means that they may move to the stratosphere where they can cause damage to the ozone layer. In comparison with other suchlike groups of chemicals, halons are considered as potent ozone depleters. Through the greenhouse effect, halons also lead to global warming, and they are considered to have a very high global warming potentia[UNE01]l. The Montreal Protocol is an environmental agreement that was signed by countries concerned with the vulnerability of ozone layer to various industrial chemicals, such as halons and chlorofluorocarbons. The protocol acknowledged the main ozone-depleting substances (ODS) and developed a “phase out” timetable for their reduction. The main aim of the protocol is to minimize and soon or later get rid of the production and usage of artificial ODS by enforcing quantitative controls to their production and use. Exceptional cases where halons can be used include essential applications. Essential applications are ones in which there is an imminent danger to human life; the installation is vital to protect critical assets and to a community; the act of losing critical equipment and its operation could have extensive consequences; and, where no other fire protection method can be used[UNE01]. In my opinion, the decision to replace halon was right considering the fact global warming has resulted in devastating events in the recent past. Since halons are considered to have a very high global warming potential, reducing and eliminating their usage is the best decision. However, as indicated in the Montreal Protocol, they should be used in essential applications. Question 2 Thermal radiation emission = ᵋσT4 = 0.85 x 5.6703 x 10-8 x (1088)4 = 6.76 x 104 W/m2 Question 3 Fahrenheit and Celsius's scales are referred to as the relative scales while Rankine and Kelvin's scales are referred to as absolute scales. On the Fahrenheit scale, the water freezing point is defined as 32 0F and the water boiling point is defined as 212 0F. On the Celsius scale, the water freezing point is defined as 0 0C and the water boiling point is defined as 100 0C. On the Fahrenheit scale, there are 180 degrees between the boiling point and freezing point of water, compared to 100 degrees on the Celsius scale. This indicates that 1.8 0F = 1 0C. On the Kelvin scale, -273 0C is the coldest temperature possible and has a value of 0 Kelvin (0 K). This value is referred to as the absolute zero. One Kelvin has the same magnitude as a one-degree increment on the Celsius scale. On Rankine scale, -459.67 0F is the absolute zero and has a value of 0 0R. Question 4 = = = 0.103 Question 5 Total heat release rate Q. = 500/4 = 475 kW L = (-1.02 x 1.1) + (0.235 x 4752/5) Flame height (L) = 1.64 m Question 6 The chemical reaction rate increase with an increase in temperature; therefore, the rate at 300 K will be slower than that of 400 K and 500 K. At 500 K, the reaction rate will be the highest. Question 7 Wavelength (ʎ) = Speed (c)/frequency (v) = (3.0 x 108)/ 1014 ʎ = 3.0 x 10-6 m Question 8 To find distance AB, we use: Cos 300 = 5/AB AB = 5/Cos 300 = 5.77m The time spent between point A and B will be: distance/speed = 5.77/1.2 = 4.81s Time spent between point B and C: t = = (0 – 1.2)/ -0.01 = -1.2/-0.01 = 120s Total time spent for the person to achieve fire exit = 120 + 4.81 = 124.81s Question 9 To find distance covered by the person AC, we use: Cos 300 = 15/AC AC = 15/Cos 300 = 17.32 m Resultant velocity = √(1.252 + 0.52) = 1.35 m/s Therefore, the minimum time needed = 17.32/1.35 = 12.83 s The right direction for his evacuation is towards the direction of the wind as the resultant velocity will be high making the evacuation time short. Question 10 The resultant velocity will be = 1.25 – 0.5 = 0.75 m/s The minimum time needed = 17.32/0.75 = 23.09 s Reference Lists UNE01: , (UNEP, 2001), Read More